Job Description

We are looking for an experienced Early Years Practitioner to lead our small baby room, caring for between 6 and 9 babies per day.

The ideal candidate will have 2 years previous experience of caring for children under 2 years of age and will be kind, caring and patient.

Purpose of the Role and Key Responsibilities

The role of the Lead Practitioner is to ensure all children attending Honeyshute Day Nursery receive high quality care, are kept safe and are provided with planned and stimulating play experiences which meet their individual needs and support all aspects of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum.

Personal and Leadership Responsibilities

Provide high quality care and activities for the children and to recognise both individual and group requirements in a secure, safe and stimulating environment. Ensure you are familiar with all key policies and procedures, especially Safeguarding Children, Equal Opportunities, Behaviour Management and Health and Safety. Work in partnership with early years professionals and agencies, for example Health Visitors and SEN services. Ensure parent issues and concerns are dealt with promptly and accurately. Ensure management are informed and consulted where relevant. Participate in room and staff meetings. Never leave the room/nursery and put your colleagues at risk of being out of ratio, unless in the case of an emergency. Attend training and development courses as directed by your Manager/assessor. To promote at all times good relations between staff members, parents and children. Promote the quality ethos of the nursery.

Childcare and Curriculum Responsibilities

Deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage framework in a creative and effective way. Observe each child's progress and report on achievements, looking for progression and continuity alongside the Early Years Foundation Stage. Understand and participate in the key person system to ensure that your own child profiles are up to date and maintained at the required quality level. Ensure that you have a clear understanding of the settling of new children into your room, as well as the transfer of children from your room to others in the nursery, or those going to school. Ensure that you attend to the all round daily needs of the children by enhancing their physical, intellectual, social and emotional development. Assist children with personal care, including changing nappies, assisting with toileting, and other associated welfare duties. Ensure you have an up to date care plans/all about me information for each child in your care. Carry out Health and Safety checks as required to ensure the room/nursery is tidy, safe, clean and secure for children, staff, parents and visitors. Ensure child profiles in your room are up to date and relevant. Maintain attendance registers.

Parent and Carer Responsibilities

Work in partnership with parents/carers, recognising that parents are their children's first educators, and encourage parental involvement in the nursery. Assist and attend regular parents meetings and open days. Ensure parents are familiar with the security and procedures surrounding drop off and collection. (passwords etc). Provide feedback and daily reports to parents about their child's day at the nursery, via appropriate channels. Inform parents when their child is sick or not their normal self. Ensure you know what is going on in a child's home, it may have an effect on the child's behaviour or mood when they are at nursery. Be vigilant and diplomatic if you feel that there is a safeguarding or child protection issue pertinent to the child and then inform management if in doubt. Understand the cultural, religious, ethical or personal preference issues that some parents may have in relation to their child. Keep the Manager/Deputy Manager informed of child absences or holidays.

Room and Premises Responsibilities

Assist the Room Leader in ensuring that risk assessments for your room and other areas for which you are responsible are carried out in accordance with nursery policies. To ensure the room is kept tidy and organised to allow for the efficient use of time and to maintain the high quality standards that we have set as our on-going objective. To assist the Room Leader in ensuring that resources for the room are ordered in a timely fashion and in accordance with nursery budgets and are age appropriate. To ensure resources, toys and equipment are organised, stored correctly, cleaned regularly and any breakages reported to the Manager/Deputy Manager. To clean obvious marks and spillages as soon as they happen within reason. To ensure any signs, pictures or displays that are fixed to the wall are tidy, appropriate and in keeping with nursery standards. To make sure rooms, toilets and corridors are left tidy and cleared away at the end of the day, to include children's clothes, shoes and resources. To ensure when using messy play items especially paint, cornflower etc, that any mess is cleaned up immediately after the activity. To ensure displays are changed regularly and in line with themes and seasons. Ensure everything in the room that needs to be is appropriately labelled. Ensure that appropriate signage is displayed correctly e.g. fire evacuation. Answer the phone or entry system for the main door as appropriate.

Health and Safety Responsibilities

Help maintain the safety and security of all children, employees and visitors to the nursery. Be familiar with the nursery's Health and Safety policy. Help carry out regular assessments to ensure all nursery Health and Safety procedures are adhered to. Ensure the cleanliness of the children at all times. Ensure accident and incident books are maintained correctly. Ensure child registers are kept correctly. To ensure that all information relating to Honeyshute Day Nursery, its operation, children, staff and parents is treated with the upmost sensitivity and confidentiality.

Paperwork

The is a summary of the most popular paperwork which relates to the activities detailed above. Much of this paperwork is statutory and regulated by Ofsted, so is an essential part of what we are required to do. Please ensure paperwork is up to date, neat and tidy, correctly spelt and well written. If you have any reservations about staff's abilities with paperwork (such as dyslexia) then please ensure work is checked by the Manager.
This will include but not limited to the following documentation -

Risk assessments Nappy charts and changing procedures Accident and incident books Staff signing in and out Allergy forms Consent forms Cleaning rotas Bottle charts Sleep checks/charts Child profiles and observations Policies and procedures
Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From 27,040.00 per year

Work Location: In person

Application deadline: 11/07/2025
Expected start date: 01/09/2025